1. Foreign Affairs Minister Marise Payne called out China for creating a "culture of fear" throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. "It is troubling that some countries are using the pandemic to undermine liberal democracy and promote their own, more authoritarian models,” Senator Payne said.

2. Researchers in the UK have pushed a steroid called dexamethasone as a landmark treatment for COVID-19, after results showed evidence that the drug reduced deaths by up to one third in severely ill patients.

3. Just a week after New Zealand celebrated being "COVID free", two women from the UK who were given permission to leave quarantine early tested positive. The new cases ended a 24-day streak of no new infections in the country.

4. Australia's Tourism Minister Simon Birmingham says it is "very unlikely" Australia's international borders will open this year for travel.

5. The ASX is tipped to rise as Wall Street closed on a high yesterday. The Dow closed up 2.04% to 26,289.98, the S&P 500 jumped up 1.90% to 3,124.74 and Nasdaq rose 1.75% to 9,895.87.